PITTSBURGH — It sounds good. Almost too good.
It appeared, as of Wednesday morning, that the Penguins were about to be sold to an uber-rich ownership group possessing a championship pedigree, a proven brand, a willingness to spend and a keen interest in retaining Mario Lemieux as the face of the operation even if he retains only a small financial stake.
Fenway Sports Group is considered a cutting-edge machine that also runs Liverpool of the English Premier League and Roush Fenway Racing of NASCAR. Some reports have them shelling out upwards of $800 million for the Penguins.
If the only drawback is, "It sounds too good to be true," I'll take it, although I understand the reflexively paranoid responses out there — and the move would not come without heavy risk for Fenway Sports Group.
The first reaction, of course, for any Penguins fan familiar with names such as Jim Balsillie, Howard Baldwin and the last Boston-based ownership figure — Roger Marino — is this: "Will they move the team?" I wasn't surprised to see more than one fan express that fear to the Post-Gazette.
The answer to the question, however, is absolutely not. As the Post-Gazette story detailed, the NHL prevents new owners from even applying for relocation for seven years, and the Penguins' lease at PPG Paints Arena runs at least through June of 2040. I also cannot believe Lemieux would sell to a group that he believed had the slightest interest in relocating.
It's just not happening. Not anytime soon. It seems clear that the Fenway Sports Group conglomerate — backed by billionaire Boston Red Sox owner John Henry — would have identified the Penguins as a solid brand with a relatively new facility in an area still ripe for development (that was the plan, right?).
But it sure helps to have a winning team. That's where the risk comes in.
This is no sure bet as an investment, and make no mistake, Henry and his partners, which include Fenway Sports Group chairman Tom Werner, are all about return on their investments. The Penguins are not entrenched here the way Red Sox are in Boston. One could argue that the Penguins' "brand" is in fact Sidney Crosby, and that when he leaves, the team itself could be a tough sell. Especially if they start losing at pre-Crosby (and pre-Lemieux) levels.
This has inarguably become a bona fide hockey town, built from the ground up. But that won't necessarily translate to fans buying into a rebuild, should it come to that. Hockey tickets aren't cheap, you know. (Red Sox tickets, by the way, according to Bostonmagazine.com, "are among the priciest in the nation and out of reach for many fans.")
Would we see empty buildings again? Would uptown become a ghost town? Would the Penguins luck their way into another generational superstar? Would Henry, 72, want to stick around through hard times?
Or is his investment more about the NHL's global revenue potential, in terms of, say, European markets and consumption of the product via digital platforms? Is it more about the ever-increasing value of franchises and what that might look like in a decade?
In any case, Henry is widely regarded as a brilliant man. He snapped Boston's 86-year World Series drought by making moves such as identifying a rising star in general manager Theo Epstein. And that was after Henry went after "Moneyball" hero Billy Beane.
Yet, despite all his winning, Henry isn't the most popular guy in Boston.
He traded Red Sox star Mookie Betts two years ago, rather than pay him, which could account for some of the other reflexively paranoid responses when news broke of the pending Penguins sale. We're used to Bob Nutting, after all, and some of the headlines surrounding the Betts trade could easily trigger PTSD.
Here's one from The Ringer: "Superstar outfielder is reportedly being shipped to the Dodgers from the Red Sox, whose ownership is prioritizing profits over winning and the fans."
When the Dodgers won the World Series while the Red Sox floundered, the deal looked worse. But here's the rest of the story: Boston rebounded to win 92 games this past season, advancing to the American League Championship Series behind the fifth-largest payroll in baseball ($189.5 million).
This is about as far from a Nutting situation as one could get. And hockey has a salary cap.
Henry's a winner. He bought majority stakes in the Red Sox (2002) and Liverpool (2010) for a combined $1.15 billion. Forbes valued those stakes in 2020 as worth a combined $5.5 billion, and the two clubs have combined for four World Series titles, a Champions League crown and a Premier League title.
A Providence Journal piece last year pondered Henry's next move and compared his thinking to that of legendary New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, former Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones.
For Steinbrenner, "acquiring the Yankees wasn't just gaining control of the current product. It was access to a deeply-rooted brand that could be further maximized with some fresh capital and enthusiasm."
How deeply rooted a brand are the Penguins?
That might become the $800 million question.
